Cutbacks 'hit nursing training'

Nurses are missing out on vital training, including basic life-support and managing infections like MRSA, a poll has found.

A survey of more than 3,000 nurses for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) found 32% had been unable to attend their compulsory training this year.

Of those, 44% cited staff shortages and a lack of cover as key reasons why they could not attend.

The RCN said cutbacks meant nurses were being forced to train in their own time or miss out altogether.

The poll found 34% of nurses had used their annual leave to train while 39% had spent their own cash to keep up with developments in areas like infection and child protection. Overall, 56% of nurses said they felt up-to-date with their training.

In February, the RCN released a survey which found more than one in three nurses had seen cuts in services over the past 12 months. More than half (57%) were concerned their jobs would be threatened in the near future while most (95%) of those seeing cuts said they were within the NHS.

Around one in three (36%) believed all those patients who needed specialist nursing were getting it. Of the 49% who identified problems accessing specialist care, 69% said specialist nurse services were overloaded. Specialist nurses help people living with long-term conditions.

Janet Davies, executive director of nursing and service delivery for the RCN, said: "We know from previous economic downturns that training is often the first place managers look when they need to start making cuts, even though nurses need to be up to date with issues such as infection control and child protection at all times."

Ms Davies said: "It is up to trusts and managers to ensure that staff are up-to-date and can access the training they need. Nurses are carrying out more and more tasks, but we can see they are starting to be hit by a double whammy - staff shortages and a lack of training."

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "The 2009 NHS staff survey results confirm that NHS organisations are taking up their responsibilities for staff training and personal development set out under the NHS Constitution and that they recognise the importance of talented staff who are fully supported, in delivering high quality patient care."